‘St. Grand’ Makes 1st $1K Gift To Red Kettles This Season

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Just as the charity was announcing a downturn in donations, the mysterious “St. Grand” is once again leaving generous donations in the Salvation Army’s red kettles.

A donation of $1,000 — in the form of a bundle of 10 $100 bills — showed up in a red kettle in Roseville on Black Friday.

The Salvation Army earlier said it hopes Minnesota shoppers will open their wallets when they see red kettles over the weekend.

The organization says donations are down 25 percent. That means the Salvation Army is short about a $250,000 compared to this point last year.

The group hopes to raise more than $10 million by Christmas Eve to help Minnesota families in need.

This marks the third year that the Salvation Army has reported these enigmatic $1,000 donations. They started in 2011, when a total of $22,000 showed up at Twin Cities kettles.

That total was matched in 2012, but organizers say it’s not clear whether it was all the work of one person or if copycat “St. Grand”s were joining in on the movement.

“It really doesn’t matter if this is one person or multiple people,” Jeff Strickler with Twin Cities Salvation Army said. “It has become legendary for us — an example of selfless giving without recognition.”